Apple Senior Vice President of Operations Jeff Williams announces ResearchKit on stage during an Apple special event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on March 9, 2015 in San Francisco, California. Getty Last year, Apple debuted a suite of medical tools called ResearchKit, which could forever change the way doctors study common health problems.

Basically, Apple built tools into the iPhone which allow researchers to build sophisticated medical apps. These apps use the iPhone's suite of sensors to monitor location, heart rate, and other factors.

Its potential is powerful when you think about it: ResearchKit allows doctors and researchers to collect more data from more patients than ever before, which could lead to findings that were impossible before doctors could collect study data daily through a smartphone.

Doctors have embraced the platform and created apps that track and study autism, concussions, heart disease, epilepsy, and other health problems. Here's a look at a few amazing ResearchKit apps developed so far:

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At Duke University, researchers are using ResearchKit to test the reliability of smart phone video to see whether it can be used as a screening tool for autism and other developmental disorders.

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The app shows a child four short videos, while recording their reaction to the videos. Then the app uses facial recognition technology to "locate key features of the child’s face so that we can measure emotions and head position."

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Although parents have the ability to choose not to share data about their children, they tend to be willing to provide it to researchers. "The data quality is excellent, proving for the first time that we can observe behaviors in natural environments using ubiquitous devices; and secondly, parents and caregivers are very helpful in sharing data with responsible teams doing fundamental work to help their children," Duke researchers said.

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Here's an example of the app's diagnostic videos. Eventually, the team that designed the app envisions the technology being used to study temper tantrums, picky eating, and child anxiety.

Helen Egger, M.D., leader of the research team and chief of Duke's Division of Child and Family Mental Health and Developmental Neuroscience, warns that the app can't be used to diagnose children. Yet.

The NYU Langone Medical Center has developed an app that analyzes users who have recently suffered a concussion.

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The Concussion Tracker study uses the Apple Watch, too. If patients usually wear a smartwatch, then they can track their heart rate and report it back to the researchers. Recent studies have indicated that concussed people have elevated heart rates.

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On a daily basis, users will answer a five-question survey, take a walking test lasting six minutes, and complete a concentration task. The data collected will be used to identify symptoms that could be early indicators for concussions. Although the app is only meant to be used for research, it also collects the data in an easy-to-use dashboard that patients can share with their doctor. Although symptoms shortly after a concussion are well-known, the study hopes to gain a better idea of what happens in the days after one happens.

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Last summer, the University of California San Francisco debuted the Pride Study app, which it called the "largest LGBTQ health study in history." The study uses an iPhone app to track and collect data from sexual and gender minority adults to better understand risk factors that disproportionately affect the population.

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The authors of the Pride Study say the response has been overwhelming. In the first week the app was available, they received over 11,000 enrollees.

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"The initial evidence seems clear: there is great power in democratizing research by engaging an underserved yet incredibly willing community, and having them take personal ownership in advancing their own health," the researchers wrote.

Researchers at Mount Sinai are tackling asthma health with a new ResearchKit-powered app called Asthma Health. The app tracks daytime and nighttime asthma symptoms, how often participants use their inhaler, as well as general physical activity.

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The goal was to collect data on what might trigger an asthma attack, and help patients avoid areas where air quality could make symptoms worse. According to the researchers, half of the users complete the lengthy e-consent processes and end up using the app the next day. According to Mount Sinai, over 8,600 people have contributed data since the app launched in March last year.

LIfeMap Solutions

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The app also allows participants to send their personal stories to their doctors. According to Mount Sinai, over 8,600 people have contributed data since the app launched in March last year.

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"The Mount Sinai Asthma Health app is great for tracking my medications and reminding me when to take them. I also use the app to analyze air quality. For example, when I travel, I track the difference between the clean air of upstate New York and the more polluted air of New York City, and look for correlations to my asthma condition," Michelle told researchers.

People with epilepsy might want to download EpiWatch, a new app from researchers at Johns Hopkins designed to help patients manage epilepsy by tracking seizures and other possible triggers. There's one catch: it's exclusively for Apple Watch users.

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To sign up, you must have epilepsy and have had one seizure in the past year. The study asks participants to be able to open the Apple Watch app "at the beginning of at least some of your seizures." Using the Apple Watch's built-in accelerometer and gyroscope, researchers can measure changes in heart rate and movement during an episode.

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The app allows participants to compare results with other patients, track daily medications, and document total quality of life from their Apple Watch.

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However, the researchers warn that EpiWatch is not a seizure detector, although it can alert caregivers.

Mole Mapper was developed at Oregon Health and Science University, and it allows patients to keep track of the moles on their skin and whether they've recently changed in size, shape, or color, which is a key way to identify potential skin cancers.

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Using your iPhone's camera, the Mole Mapper app can scan your skin and track new or growing moles.

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Photos can be provided to researchers as part of the Melanoma Community Register. Photos taken through the app will be used to determine if it's possible to diagnose melanoma through a mobile device, as well as to develop diagnostic algorithms.

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As with the other apps, researchers warn that Mole Mapper is not designed to provide a professional diagnosis, but it can share data with doctors so that they can make an informed diagnosis.